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SUNDAY UPDATE: Paramount said this morning that Paranormal Activity is set for an expanded release into over 40 markets at all hours on October 9th after selling out all its midnight screenings across the country Thursday through Saturday in 33 cities, earning a per screen of $16K for a total estimated gross of $535K. ”The fans have spoken, and we are listening,” Paramount’s Rob Moore was quoted as hyping.
SATURDAY 11 AM: This doesn’t happen that often, so I don’t blame Paramount for crowing about its freakishly good numbers for Paranormal Activity, which will do $500K this weekend on 33 screens playing ONLY after midnight. That’s a $15K screen average for midnight business. Yikes! It did $150K Thursday and took in another $200K on Friday after selling out every theater. The pic was originally acquired by Paramount bigwig Adam Goodman back when he was at DreamWorks to remake it. (The hype is that Steven Spielberg was so freaked out when he first saw it that he returned it to DreamWorks in a garbage bag…) Then Paramount had a preview, and the movie played well, so the studio was looking for an approach to release it. What began as a heavy screening plan and college outreach to get fans to make it their own morphed last week into a release in 12 college towns doing only midnight shows. Some $80K business later, Paramount added 21 midnight screens this week, including LA’s ArcLight (which sold out its 15 midnight shows for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday combined). “It’s a little movie that’s scaring peoples brains out,” a studio exec emailed me. Plus, it’s got 93% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I gotta say, that TV ad campaign is effective, too. Next week, Paranormal Activity will expand to somewhere around 100 screens playing full day schedules. It will be interesting to see how big the overall fan base is after the college Facebook Twitter folks have really embraced this film and made it their own.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Great. Now we get to se 47,000 failed attempts at this in the next 5 years.
When Blair Witch came out, all people bitched about was how we would see 47,000 failed attempts at recreating that effect in the next five years. I don’t remember seeing that, myself. Does anyone remember being inundated with camcorder movies until 2004?
No, because none of them were good enough to make it to the screen. But with today’s technology and all the new distribution outlets… get ready.
I want to see this so bad, but I’m actually afraid to. And I love horror movies. I’m more afraid though of going to 42nd St. in NYC at midnight for one of those midnight shows.
Are you kidding? Have you ever been to 42nd street at midnight? It’s probably the safest street in NYC at that time of night. Have you even ever been to NYC?
When you walk out of this theater at after a midnight showing it looks like its daytime (no exageration) with all the lights from the buildings. With the cops everywhere around on that block its probably one of the safest places you could be.
The flick totally spookified me to my core. And I say that as somebody who thought Blair Witch was about as unsettling as an episode of Sponge-Bob. Believe the hype.
Paranormal Activity is by far the scariest movie to come out in the past twenty years. The audience at Thursday’s screening in San Francisco was completely freaked out. This film had grown men screaming like little girls. Not only is the movie generally scary, this movie has scenes to creepy that they actually produce goose bumps. In addition, the experience lingers with you long after you return home from the theater… Good luck sleeping after you see it.
this is obviously an internet phenomenon. only way I heard anything about this was through demand-it. don’t you people go on facebook?
If “Senior” Spielberg hated it, the college kids will love it.
He didn’t hate it, it scared the crap out of him.
Hey Nikki – you gotta give some credit to the whole demand-it idea. that’s what got people interested in the movie in the first place!
Hopefully this movie will build and build throughout the course of the month and dethrone Saw Twelve! This is a real grass roots situation where something emerged because of social networking and not because the machinations of Hollywood crammed it down your throat with hundreds of millions in advertising. In a way I kind of hope the bubble doesn’t get too big, though, because that will only fuel an inevitable backlash where the too-cool-for-the-room crowd will hate it just to look hip.
seriously, the internet is driving this film. you gotta love the nerd herd.
Yes because it worked so well for Snakes on a Plane.
the nerd herd? I just got a friend request on Facebook from my mother…shes 75. You are out of tough my friend.
Looks WAY too scary for this wuss.
props to Paramount’s marketing department, they shined this turd up real pretty.
omg man i want to see this movie soooo bad
Paramount has a bonafide hit on their hands and they’re blowing it. They should be out on 2000 screens with this thing NOW. After such great reviews and after selling out so many midnight only shows, why are they still platforming this? Lionsgate would have blown this puppy out and it would be the most profitable film of 2009.
gotta give Steven Scheider at paramount credit for finding the thing, too…
The fact that the movie only cost $11,000 to make has already made it one of the most profitable movies of the year. If Lionsgate had this movie they would release it in about 100 Discount theaters for one week because it’s not Saw and they wouldn’t know what to do with it. I a very interested to see how big this is next week when it expands to full day runs.
Buy a hammer – you get twice as much brain damage at half the price.
You’ll sleep better too.
For the record, I don’t work for Paramount. Now –
This movie is fuckin’ great! I don’t get scared at movies anymore since directors use the same devices from 20 years ago that audiences have grown tired of, but this one’s the real deal. I was fascinated to the end. Don’t compare it to “Blair Witch” — marketing helped that movie tremendously because the final product was a piece of crap. “Paranormal Activity” was cool — and SHORT!!! (85 mins)
I saw it last night at the Arclight in Hwood…Yes it’s creepy and scary and I give credit to the filmmmaker, Peli. But the hype is a little much. There are character problems and a ridiculous Blair-witch type of framework with this “found footage” that doesn’t work. However, I still found it enjoyable up until the third act. I read that Spielberg changed the ending and it’s so obvious – the film goes from being an original indie to typical Hollywood crap at the end. I saw it coming a mile away. Apparently Peli had two different endings originally and I wish he had gotten to keep one of those. It’s a fun little scary movie – that’s it.
I totally agree.
And please already with the Ouija board planchette moving by itself. That was stale decades ago.
Pinocchio is scarier than the Blair Witch Project. I saw Paranormal Activity friday and I don’t remember ever being this scared in the movies. I couldn’t sleep. The Movie is fantastic, raw, simple and scary as sh*t.
Great teaser effect by building strong word of mouth this weekend for what is now going to be a monster weekend next week.
The film will continue to grow and expand.. Paramount timed it very very well, I can see a few more increases in theater counts over the next few weeks. I would love a film as silently scary as this to be able to take down a film loud and nonsensical like SAW just in time for Halloween
It is funny to read all the comments from the mass marketing drones continually typing “This was so scary for me. OMG!” Silly little scare flick that is ok but the media hype is so fing annoying. It will be a big disappointment to so many because of all the phony hype being posted by shills.
GOOD POINT, John T.
I have seen this movie and it’s lame. The actors are lousy and nothing happens.
All. Hype. And there are shills all over this board. What a crock.
this was probably the scariest movie ive ever seen. the last 15 minutes are terrifying and it stays with you for long after because everyone has to go to bed after the movie at some point…
this movie has real third act problems, needed to take it to the next level but instead more of the same plus a super corny ending…blair witch all over again
Considering all the phony, purchased buzz about this film here and elsewhere on the internet…they should rename this thing “The Shilling” (apologies to Kubrick…)
I for one am really happy for this news. I saw this last weekend at midnight and it was a blast. Hopefully it opens up in my city so I can take some of my friends again. Now if only they’d replace that Hollywood ending with the original one…